Always Us

newspaper camp

I have over twenty drafts in this book that I've never finished because the motivation died, so I'm trying to salvage some of them. Enjoy my scraps lol

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"Everybody in their places?" Spencer called out as he reached into the hot oven to remove the homemade rolls. Assessing their golden hue, he smiled proudly at himself. "Oh, she is going to love this."

He set the scorching pan on a trivet and stepped back, admiring his work of art. Over the years, he had worked hard to perfect his recipe, and since he did, the heavenly soft bread had easily become one of Olivia's favorites. Along with everything else he made her.

His eyes drifted along the counter to the rest of dinner, which was going to be served a little later than usual due to Olivia's impending arrival. Thankfully, Sienna loved snacks just as much as her mom, so she hadn't complained all afternoon about being hungry.

In fact, she had been oddly quiet for the past hour, and the realization propelled him to quickly turn around. "Baby girl?"

His six month-old son pulled his thumb from his mouth and gave him a toothless grin.

At least one of them was nearby.

Spencer approached his son's seat. "Where'd your sister go?"

Unamused by the mention of his sister, Jackson slammed his palms onto the counter. For the past thirty minutes, he had sat on his best behavior, eyes drifting back and forth, watching his father's every move. Now, he was ready to be freed. He kicked against the counter.

"Okay, okay," Spencer chuckled, undoing the clasp on his son's waist and pulling him up.

In search of his other troublemaker, Spencer walked towards the playroom, and when he caught a look inside, his shoulders relaxed. Sienna was playing with her toys. Nothing out of the ordinary looked out of place.

Spencer crouched down in front of his four year-old daughter while she checked out at her grocery store play set. "SiSi, mommy's going to be here any second. Remember, we're going to surprise her?"

"Daddy lives here," his daughter announced.

"Yeah." Spencer furrowed his eyebrows, watching as she tried to pile all her selections onto the mini conveyor belt. Each time she added a new item, one of the others fell to the floor.

She pursed her lips, growing frustrated that the twelve inches of space couldn't hold all twenty of her items. "Mommy lives here, too."

"Yes, mommy lives with Daddy, SiSi, and Jaxie," he confirmed slowly, not sure what she was getting at.

"There's no supwise." She looked up at him very matter of factly.

Spencer stared at his daughter, wondering if this was her way of calling his idea stupid. It was true, Olivia was expecting them. And he did make dinner regularly. But this time, he had made it with extra care.

"We can still surprise her," Spencer explained, putting an emphasis on the correct pronunciation. "Mommy's been gone all week, and she's going to be so happy to see us and the yummy dinner daddy made."

Sienna dropped the plastic grocery basket and crossed her tiny arms across her chest. "Not a supwise."

"But it can be."

"No!"

"Fine, it's not a surprise," Spencer relented, deciding not to engage himself in this particular argument. Jackson grew restless again in his arms, and he tightened his grip on his thigh. "Look, Jaxie is ready to see mommy. Let's go wash our hands and get ready."

Sienna opened her mouth to object just as front door opened. Then her eyes widened, and she darted past Spencer, yelling. "MOMMY! We made a supwise for you!!"

"Oh really?" He heard his wife's voice sing song, and before he knew it, Olivia was walking into the playroom with Sienna perched on her hip.

Spencer let out a relieved breath, keeping his gaze away from Sienna and her smug look. The week of negotiating with two little ones had finally caught up to him. "Hey baby."

"Hi," she grinned, approaching him for a peck.

"No!" Sienna pouted. "My mommy."

Ignoring his daughter, Spencer got as close as he could with their two kids attached to them.

"Happy to see me," she laughed, pulling away from the prolonged kiss.

"I am now that my wife's back from,"—he paused, trying to find the right term—"what do they call newspaper camp once you're already established and everything?"

"It was a conference," Olivia laughed under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Aight, we got those in football," he grinned. "How was it?"

"Not like that. But it was incredible. Today, there was this amazing speaker that I basically chased down after her presentation. We talked for almost an hour. I learned so much that is going to be so helpful to my craft." She smiled. "But enough about that, what's the surprise?"

"I made dinner."

"Oh." Her face fell. "I'm not really hungry. There was this really extravagant closing ceremony and a banquet. I ate so much before the drive back."

Spencer frowned. "Oh. Well, it was a two hour drive. You sure you don't want anything? I made your favorite rolls."

She tilted her head, momentarily enticed, but then she grimaced and shook her head. "Not really."

Spencer tried to hide his disappointment at her indifference. She never turned down his food. And normally, she at least said thank you. Luckily, he didn't have to try too hard because Jackson started to cry in his arms.

"Aw, come here," Olivia cooed, taking their baby from him. And before he knew it, they were all gone.

_____

Spencer ate dinner then took both kids from Olivia to get them to bed. Since his surprise didn't work out, he gave her an extra night off, figuring she was exhausted from a week of constant socialization and stimulation.

He got both kids to sleep then made his way down the hall to his bedroom. Noticing a light on downstairs, he stopped short and switched his route, following the trail of lights until he ended up in the kitchen.

All the leftovers were strewn out on the island, each container open with a fork sticking out of it. Olivia sat on a bar stool, eating the rolls straight from the pan. Pulling out a plate had apparently been too much effort.

He stepped into the kitchen and she caught sight of him. "They're not as good reheated," she pouted.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I thought you weren't hungry."

"Newspaper camp," she muttered through a mouthful of bread.

"Huh?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You called it newspaper camp. I didn't like that."

"But you liked the surprise?" He asked, a smile stretching across his face, not caring that he had unknowingly pissed her off.

She kept quiet as she shoveled a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth, shrugging.

"You missed my cooking," he teased as he came around the counter to wrap his arms around her shoulders. "Tell me. Was the food there any good?"

"Get away from me," she mumbled, attempting to keep a straight face as he smothered her in kisses.

"You gotta admit they're your favorite." He nodded at her hand, the confidence in his voice growing second by second.

She rolled her eyes. "They're alright," she said, flattening her tone, not wanting to stroke his ego anymore than she already had by sneaking downstairs.

He settled next to her, leaning against the counter. "Next time, they gotta hire Spencer James to cook. Can't have my baby eating trash at newspaper c—"

But before he could finish his sentence a bread roll came hurling at his head.